Beijing, Oct 25: Chinese and Indian tourists would be exempted from visas to enter Brazil for tourism or business, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has announced.

"There will be no reciprocity in the beginning. (The) US, Australia, Japan, and Canada are already exempt from short-term tourist and business visas. The next country should be India," he said on Thursday during a meeting here, according to Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.

China has a population of about 1.39 billion people, while India has 1.3 billion. Both India and China are part of BRICS - an association of five major emerging national economies including Brazil, Russia and South Africa.

Bolsonaro on Friday met President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang during his first official visit to China.

Brazilian and Chinese leaders emphasised continued cooperation between emerging economies in the face of protectionism worldwide.

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Visakhapatnam (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday undertook an aerial survey of key development projects in the North Andhra region to assess their progress.

After a review meeting with officials on the Visakhapatnam Economic Region (VER), he conducted an aerial survey of projects such as Bhogapuram Airport, IT, tourism and others in a chopper, said an official release.

The CM reviewed the IT hub and Global Capability Centre (GCC) project works near Kapuluppada, where the Visakhapatnam IT Special Economic Zone (SEZ) has been expanded, and other projects.

Naidu issued instructions to officials to ensure efficient road connectivity to the Bhogapuram international airport and to accelerate the development of the associated township.

He also sought details on the proposal for an aviation university as part of the education hub planned at Bhogapuram.

The CM also issued directives to officials on road and rail connectivity, including logistics support for IT, pharma, industrial clusters, ports, and airports within the Visakhapatnam Economic Region.

Comprising nine districts in total, the southern state aims to transform VER into a USD 135 billion economy by 2032.

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With a population of 1.65 crore people, 38,000 sq km of area, per capita income of USD 3,170 and a workforce of 70 lakh people, VER accounts for 23 percent population and 31 percent of the state’s total area, said an official press release.

The state plans to develop the region through seven growth drivers such as global ports, next generation IT, agriculture, tourism, healthcare hub, planned urban housing and best infrastructure.

Out of six ports, four are currently operational – Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram, Kakinada Deep Water and Kakinada Anchorage – while Kakinada Gateway and Mulapeta ports will be the new ones.

VER aims to construct seven new railway projects, nine road projects, 77-km long Metro rail connectivity project and set up 12 manufacturing units, among others.

Further, the government aims to construct 7.5 houses (welfare), facilitate 10,000 hotel rooms construction, set up 20 medical and IT skilling colleges, add 5,000 hospital beds, develop 50 million sq ft of office space, and earmark 50,000 acres for industries and other facilities.